J. B. Salsberg
| J.B. Salsberg | |
|---|---|
| Ontario MPP | |
|
In office 1943–1955 |
|
| Preceded by | J.J. Glass |
| Succeeded by | Allan Grossman |
| Constituency | St. Andrew |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 5, 1902 Lugov, Poland |
| Died | February 8, 1998 (aged 95) Toronto, Ontario |
| Political party | Labor-Progressive |
| Spouse(s) | Dora Wilensky |
| Residence | Toronto, Ontario |
| Occupation | Labour organizer, insurance agent |
| Religion | Judaism |
Joseph Baruch (J.B.) Salsberg (November 5, 1902 – February 8, 1998) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Labor-Progressive member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1943 to 1955 who represented the riding of St. Andrew in downtown Toronto. He was a longtime Communist and activist in the Jewish community.
Salsberg was born in 1902 to Abraham and Sarah Gitel Salsberg in the small town of Lagow (Lagov, in Yiddish pronunciation), in the Opatow district of Radom in what is now Poland. He emigrated to Canada with his parents in 1913 at age 11, settling in Toronto. His father worked as a peddler to support his wife and seven children. Joseph dropped out of Landsdowne Public School after two years, at the age of 13, in order to work in sweatshops full-time for $3 a week to help support the family but continued to study at night to be a rabbi in the Orthodox tradition. His industrial experience led him to labour activism, particularly in the garment workers union where he fought for improved wages and conditions. At age 16, he informed his traditionalist parents that he was abandoning Talmudic studies in favour of a secular humanist philosophy. He joined a Labour Zionist workers' group, the Young Poale Zion, and quickly rose to leadership going to New York City to serve as general secretary of the North American group from 1922 to 1924, editing its newspaper and going on speaking tours across the continent. He returned to Toronto and became an organizer for the Hat, Cap, and Millinery Workers Union of North America and, in 1927, married Dora Wilensky who later became a social worker with Jewish Family and Child Services.
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